Fruit juice dispenser



Dec. 18, 1956 w. s. SWAN FRUIT JUICE DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledOct. 20, 1955 JNVENTOR. William 3511mm BY ATTORNEY Dec. 18, 1956 w. s.SWAN 2,774,393

FRUIT JUICE DISPENSER Filed Oct. 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 43 INVENTOR.

Wzllz'amSSwan ATTORNEY FRUIT JUICE DISPENSER William S. Swan, New York,N. Y. i 7 Application October 20,1955, Serial No. 541,710 3 Claims. (Cl.141-18) The present invention relates to fluid dispensers and moreparticularly to fluid dispensers vending a large variety of fluidssimultaneously when contained in a dispensing structure and also relatesto a novel wire rack construction which may be readily cleaned.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-varietyjuice dispenser with novel wire rack construction which may be easilyremoved from the housing and cleaned without being disassembledcompletely.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multi ple varietydispenser for liquids in which liquid storage containers and supplycontainers may be removed from the wire rack without disassembling therack.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a wire racksuitable for supporting a large number of supply containers directlyover the fluid storage containers so that upon depletion of thestoragecontainer supply, an additional liquid supply may be added to thestorage container without disassembling theunit, merely by inserting afull liquid supply can and puncturing it in position over the storagecontainer. v

Anotherrobject of the present invention is to provide United StatesPatent a wire rack suitable for supporting a number of funnel containershaving can puncturing means therein which will permit fluid flow uponforcing a liquid supply can on'the can puncturing elements.

For other objects and a better understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following de- 5 tailed description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which: 7 V 3.

Figure l is a perspective view of a multiple uice dispenser of thepresent invention;

A Fig.2 is a top plan view illustrating the disposition of thecontainers on a wire rack;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the planeof line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlargedvertical partial sectional view illustrating asupplycan having been punctured by the can puncturing device and theliquid flowing into the storage container below;

Pig. 5 is a perspective view of the wire rack contained within thecontainer housing and illustrating in dash lines the containerspositioned on the top rack;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the can puncturing dev1ce;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged top plan view of one element of the can puncturingdevice; and

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of the can puncturing device, asillustrated in Fig. 7

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which there isillustrated in Fig. l a multi-variety juice dispenser housing 10 havinga cover member 11 and a plurality of individual spigot members 12 at thefront of the housing. At the front of the housing 10 beneath the spigots12 is a drawer 13 which is slidably retained within the base of thehousing and may be supplied with the refrigerating medium or, asillustrated in Fig. 3, by the ice 14 contained on the bottom of thedrawer tainer brace member 22. laterally spaced'from each other andretained in vertical parallel alignment by the front lower horizontalcon- Patented Dec. 18, 1956 "ice of the dispenser. The walls and coverof the container may be insulated with a suitable material to maintainthe container liquids at the desired temperature.

A removable wire rack structure 16 which is slidable verticallyinto theouter container 10 is a unitary structure made from a plurality of wiresections. End members 17 include vertical legs 18 and top and bottomcross brace members 19 and 20 respectively as well as intermediatehorizontal tray brace member 21 and end con- The end members 17 aretainer recess brace 23 at the front of the rack and spaced verticallyabove the bottom end member 20, top horizontal members 24 and 25, at thetop front and top rear ends respectively of the end members 17, thehorizontal limit brace 26 spaced vertically above the lower containerrecess brace 23 to position a container on the rack, and the back lowerhorizontal container recess brace 27, which is on the same level as thefront lower brace member 23. The distance between the front and rearlower braces 23 and 27 is spanned by a plurality of storage containersupporting members 23, one for each storage container recess, and inaddition a'plurality of L-shaped dividing compartment members 29, ashort leg portion 30 of which extends vertically from the fasteningposition on the front recess brace 23 and is bent to reach horizontallyto the rear limit brace member at right angles to which the other end isfastened.

Vertically spaced from the horizontal portion of the dividingcompartment members 29 is a horizontal wire tray 31 so spaced to retainfluid supply container members 32, each of which reaches across thelength of the rack between the end members 17 to be fastened to thehorizontal tray-brace members 21 on each end member. When in theassembled position, the rack'forms a unitary structure which is suitablefor supporting a plurality of liquid storage'co'ntainers 33, eachrhavinga width for being slidably retained in the recesses or compartments34formed by the L-shaped dividing compartment-members 29. The front bottomof each container 33 is provided with a nipple 34 fastened to thecontainer and communicating with the interior so that fluid containedtherein may flow outwardly to be dispensed. When in the assembledposition, as illustrated in Fig. 3, a threaded spigot 12 is fastened tothe end of the nipple 34 whereby upon filling the container 33, aselected fluid may be dispensed from the spigot as desired.

A plurality of poured can receivers, or compartments 35, one of which 36is illustrated as being larger than the others, are supported on thehorizontal tray 31 and are retained in position on the tray by use ofthe rubber grommets 37,'or other suitable restraining means, each ofwhich grommets has a circumferentially split section 38, which willengage with adjacent Wire tray elements 32 and the central portion ofeach of said grommets is removed to provide central recesses 39 toreceive a down pour spout or funnel 40, from each of the pour can re-;

ceivers 35.

By examining Fig. 2, it will be observed that the disposition of each ofthe down pour spouts 46 within the compartments 35, as illustrated inthe back portion of lfront elongated container 36 has a central openingtherein. r

' Therefore; it becomes readily apparent that downpour v spouts orfunnels in each of the receivers communicate witha'separatezfluidstorage containerthelovv V t 111 each of the receivers 35, -.a canpuncturing-device 7 is inserted and positioned at the bottom of;-.th'ereceiver. 1 The can puncturing device comprises a =wirexstand 543 formedfrom 'bent wires which extend-"radially lfromwa; r

I central point and then are folded 'backwardly and "up-J x vardly' asat 44'and 45 to receive a ,floated onical' puncturing element 46. Theheated conical puncturing' element 4 6 B provided uith sharp.cuttingfknife edges o 7 ,47land :fluid flow channels g positionedbetween two ot knife cutting edgesi Is clearly shown infig's. 3ahd34,}as a supply icon- Ttainer 47 which is filled -with the'-rdesired.fiuid to be dislpensed is inserted into the receiving container 35 and.

e forced downwardly;thepuncturing elerriznts46-willpene tam n the canand the-liquid contained-therein will t fiow through the'channels {isdownwardly into the pour- -spout tl provided 'in the reeciver 35 and bedirected in flow into the receiver-or storage chamber 33 below. Theheight of the receivers 35 are such that'it would be v permissible toleave the-containers 47 withintthe unit so a that flow may continuefronrthe container '47 downwardly into the storage receivers 33 afterthelid which is hingedly attached to thebase 10 is placed over-the unitcovering same 7 7 it Will become readily apparent vthat upon exhaustingthe supply of fluid from any of the chambers .it will be necessary onlyto remove one iof the fiuid containers 4'7 zandiinsert; anothercontainer intopositionto make a supt 4 V V 1 ing elements reachingbetween the end elements at the front and rear of the rack to supportthe dividingelements, storage container supporting elements positionedsubstantially intermediate the Width of the recesses to I retain astorage'container in position, a'fiuid'supply containerrack spacedvertically above the top of thedividing I elements and intermediate theheight of said end members to provide support fora number of fluidsupply containers thereon. e

Y 2 A multiple variety liquid dispensercomprising a container housinghav in' support containers thereon, the lower'tray being spaced" tray,apluralit-y of individual spigots projecting outwardly from saidcontainer housing and communicating each with an individual fiuidstorage container through the housing, 'fiu'id supply receivingcontainers having bottom 7 lid thereon, a removable wire 7 rack dividedvertically in'to oontainer.receiving-trays to pour spouts selectivelypositioned in the containers 'so' 7 7 that each ,pour spout communicateswith anindividual storage container ttherebelow, said fluid supplyreceiving containers beingvsupportedon said horizontal tray area 1 abovethe'fluid storage container recesses'and fluidstor-l; 'age containers,liquid supply can puhcturing means posi- V 'tioned within the fluidsupply-receiving'containers -where- V V by .upon depressing a fluidfilled c'ajn onto the puncturing I I r-ineans, fiuid will flo w into afluid supply receiving .cong 7 ply" o f ithe 'desiredrfluid'availabletobe'dispensed by the V: '1'

spigot 12. all will also be" clear metro; cleaning ipu'r V-poses it willbe necessary only toirernove the entire rack as La unit-and; theco'mponent'ipar'tssuch as the storage containen the receiver thepuucturing element, and so individually. Cleaningtof the rack isfacilitated by re- 1 moving the various co rnponent'p'arts' and thewire-rack may be; cleaned without? disassembling and be :made ready 'foruse;

' Whilefvarious 'changes'i-maybe inade in the: detail; j

V forthvugill be removed simultaneously andmay be cleaned a V V V l-ment ibetwe'enuthe bottom and rtop of the endmembersff top supportingwire elements parallel stoieach 'otherand V I v reaching between thetopcorners of said endls upport-j 1 ingelements,-storage'container;supporting elementsspaced '1 ver'ticallyabovethe bottom of ethe end-timernbers '1 1' containersupportingelemeutsrlying in thesarne horizontal V -construction it shall"be understood that sueh changes rlhall bewithin thespirit andscope orthe prese'ntinvention' as defined by the appended claims,"-Whatisi'claimedis:

t .1. In cornbination'with multiples variety" dis I wlpenser, aremovable wire; rackcomprising endisupporting wire members spacedlaterally from each other, up-

' wardly and rearwardly projecting wire dividing elements" formingaplurality of laterally spaced horizontallfluid' storage containerrecesses betweensaid end supporting members; said recesses spacedvertically from the 'bottaine i and; through the pour s'pout and theninto the" i storage container below} 3.;ln combination Withia multiplevarietyaliquididisfpenser, a wire framej rac k comprising'gopen wirevframe end supporting members spaced laterally fromeachother and havingintermediate verticallyspaced horizontal ele-j aid No re'ferences cited.

plane-at theflfront and rear'of said endfrne mbers 1 V t ea he t smherzen al' t ra i rs tl I elements reaching between the c'o ntai ner{sup pli l "elementgwire 'dividing elements extending upwardly;asliort 7 7distance and rearwardly to the-rear of said rack, thehori-i Zontal crossmember reaching between-said end sup-f porting members to engage'the'ends .of said dividing ele-- ments' at the rear of the rack,

